Obrein Simasiku
Omuthiya
The police in Tsumeb have dispelled allegations of negligence that led to the death of an inmate who died last Friday at Oshakati State Hospital.
The inmate was slapped in the face by a fellow prisoner and he fell so hard he hit his head on the floor.
The two inmates reportedly had an argument. The incident happened early Friday morning. It was confirmed by the Oshikoto police regional commander Commissioner Armas Shivute, who however refuted allegations there was negligence on the part of the police.
“I can confirm that an inmate died at the Oshakati State Hospital. However, those allegations of negligence are unfounded. I personally went to the cells to get statements from the inmate on what exactly happened. I analysed their statements and there was no link as to whether the police responded late,” stressed Shivute.
“I even asked the inmates why they didn’t separate them, but they said it just happened quickly and it was too late to help. It was not really a fight – the suspect just went straight and slapped him in the face, that was it. So we are now just waiting for the post-mortem results to determine the exact cause of death,” added Shivute.
According to one of the police officers who wished to remain anonymous and was at the scene, there was indeed some negligence on the part of the police as they only acted about two hours after the incident.
“The incident happened around 07h00 – the prisoners were shouting and calling for help but they just ignored thinking it’s just the normal tendency of inmates shouting and hurling insults. It was only later that they realized something was wrong, and that was already two hours late,” stated the source.
The deceased, who cannot be named as his next of kin were yet to be informed, was in custody for attempted rape, while the suspect is a 30-year-old inmate who faces a charge of assault.
“We are still tracing the family of the deceased but we heard he has relatives at Tsintsabis – my staff are to locate and formally inform them,” said Shivute.